A Roman Catholic nun who sexually abused two teenage boys in Milwaukee four decades ago admitted to a church panel that she also had molested a Chicago boy and at least three other minors, according to a court document obtained by the Tribune.

Sister Norma Giannini, 79, avoided trial in November by pleading no-contest to two felony counts of indecent behavior with a child. She faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced Friday at Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Two known victims in the case, Gerald Kobs and James St. Patrick, are expected to read statements in court. According to a criminal complaint filed December 2006, Giannini engaged in dozens of sexual encounters with them in the 1960s, when she was an 8th-grade teacher and principal at St. Patrick's School in Milwaukee.

But court documents show that a psychologist told prosecutors in 2006 that Giannini had identified other victims to a Milwaukee archdiocese panel. The psychologist and other members of the panel interviewed Giannini in 1996 after abuse allegations emerged.

Because church officials did not report the allegations to law enforcement at the time, prosecutors began building their case in 2005 only after victims approached the civil authorities.

Prosecutors subpoenaed the psychologist, Elizabeth Piasecki, who read into the record the notes she wrote during the interview.

The notes indicate Giannini discussed molesting three other boys in Milwaukee and one in Chicago, where she worked before and after her stint in Wisconsin.

According to a transcript, Piasecki read: "One thing happened at St. Ann's before Milwaukee, a young man, a student. First time it happened. He was 14 to 15. He was in 8th grade. Started kissing and petting. I was talking to him and all of a sudden he was kissing me. Then it went on. And then unfortunate."

Piasecki's notes on the other alleged victims include: "There's one more boy ... he was 16 years old ... going on 20. I knew nothing. Kissing and petting, I think."

At one point, the panel asked Giannini: "What do you think that these kids thought?"

Giannini answered: "They were sowing their oats. How many teenagers would resist that opportunity?"

Sheila King, a spokeswoman for the order Sisters of Mercy of the Chicago Regional Community, said she could not confirm the existence of additional victims because the sister who was president at the time of those allegations is unavailable. The current president, Sister Betty Smith, assumed her title in 2006.

The Chicago archdiocese, where Giannini served in schools for decades, referred all questions to her order.

A native of Chicago, Giannini entered the convent at 18. She started teaching in 1949 at St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge, followed by several other schools in the Chicago area before being sent to Milwaukee in 1964.

Giannini returned to Illinois in 1969, working at Christ the King, Mother McAuley High School, Little Flower, St. Clare of Montefalco and Holy Redeemer, where she was principal. Sisters of Mercy removed Giannini from service in December 1992 when the Milwaukee archdiocese notified the order of allegations against her.

Milwaukee County Assistant District Atty. Paul Tiffin confirmed that he was aware of other potential victims. In addition to Kobs and St. Patrick, one other man came forward but did not press charges, Tiffin said.

"We did know she had mentioned other victims, but we made no effort to contact them because these people are adults," he said. "We're not going to force anyone to come forward. These are terrible memories that some people just don't want to bring up."

Prosecutors in Milwaukee could have referred their findings to Illinois authorities in an attempt to search out more victims but had no professional obligation to do so, said Mark Rotert, a former federal prosecutor and Illinois assistant attorney general.

Rotert noted that the crimes apparently are not ongoing and the victims know who abused them. "It's their choice if they want to come forward," he said. "It's also their choice if they don't want to come forward."

Even if Cook County authorities had received the information, the time limit for prosecuting the sexual abuse in Illinois likely would have run out, said John Gorman, spokesman for State's Atty. Richard Devine. Milwaukee authorities could prosecute Giannini because Wisconsin's statute of limitations halts if the alleged offender leaves the state.

Kobs and St. Patrick said Thursday in an interview that they lived with memories of abuse for more than 30 years before coming forward.

Kobs said he often considered suicide and suffers frequent migraines and recurring nightmares of abuse. St. Patrick said he abused alcohol and drugs for years after the abuse, which destroyed his faith.

"I thought, why didn't Jesus stop this?" he said.

Both men said Giannini had abused several other boys in their school, whom they have been trying to contact. One victim committed suicide, they said, and two others have sexually assaulted women.

Kobs said he hopes the judge sentences Giannini to at least 8 years in prison, which prosecutors are recommending.

"I just hope she gets some time," Kobs said. "If we go through this mess, and she gets no punishment, how will that make other victims of abuse feel?"